


Don't Lay Me Down to Sleep

by Scoobert0



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Slash, Tony+tranq equals bad things, more tags and characters to be added as it goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-12
Packaged: 2017-12-14 10:07:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/835701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scoobert0/pseuds/Scoobert0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times Tony has adverse reactions to tranquilizers and how his teammates handle it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yup, another new fic instead of working on the ones that are in desperate need of being updated (I lost my fic notebook, ok? That's my sad and depressing excuse).
> 
> This is going to be my attempt at a 5+1 fic, so yeah.
> 
> I got nothing else. Enjoy!

The day had started off normal. If normal could include repairing the engines on a giant flying air carrier that is. Sitting back after riveting a panel back over the circuit box he’d just been working on, Tony rolled his head back and forth, groaning as his neck cracking several times. He tossed his tools to the side and stood up with a wince as everything from his knees to his shoulders popped. Without bothering to look at any of the SHIELD techs working on various other (less important) parts of the engine, he headed out the door and started making his way down towards the science labs, where Bruce was supposed to be working on something.

After various elevator rides and dodging several agents Fury must have sent out looking for him to try and get him to fix other things on the Helicarrier, he finally made it to the research levels. He was headed down the corridor towards Bruce’s lab when he heard a commotion from up ahead. Without a second thought he sprinted forward and around the first corner he came to.

The second he came around the corner, he knew he was in deep shit.

Down the hall was the latest villain of the week that the Avengers had captured after he attacked the Helicarrier two days previous. He was surrounded by SHIELD agents, who had guns trained on him. As fate would have it, the baddie (Tony had forgotten what the idiot had called himself. Whatever it was, it was probably stupid anyways) spun to face where Tony had just come into view. With a feral yell, the baddie started to charge him. And the second he moved, the SHIELD agents opened fire.

Tony dove back around the corner he’d come around. It was only a matter of seconds before he heard a loud thud hit the deck. Peeking back around the corner, he saw the baddie flat on his face, his back covered with tiny tranq darts.

Suddenly, he began to feel woozy. He tried to think about why he was suddenly feeling so tired, as he put his back towards the wall and slowly slid down it. His now bleary gaze landed on two darts stuck in his thigh.

“Thaaaat, would do it…” he slurred as he was forced into unconsciousness by the drugs now in his system.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Doctor Banner,” one of the SHIELD agents called down from up the corridor. Bruce poked his head out from the doorway of his lab, “Doctor Banner, your assistance is needed.”

Furrowing his brow, he stepped out of the lab, noting that the bad guy that had tried to blow up the Helicarrier the other day was unmoving on the floor with at least thirty traq darts sticking out of his back, “What can I do to help?” he asked cautiously.

“One of the agents reported that they saw Stark come around the corner, unarmored, just before we opened fire. I need you to go check and make sure he’s ok while we secure the prisoner,” said the agent.

Bruce nodded and jogged down the corridor without another word. Just before he reached the corner, he heard a familiar voice yelling.

“Man down, I need medical assistance over here!”

Turning the corner, he saw Steve crouched over the slumped form of Tony Stark with two fingers to the prone man’s neck. Behind him, he could hear one of the agents radioing for a med team.

“Steve, let me see,” he said, squatting down next to the both of them. Steve gave him a panicked look before he moved to give Bruce more space to check Tony over.

The reason for Tony’s unconscious state was easy to find. There was a pair of traq darts sticking out of his thigh. Reaching over, he plucked both of them out and held them up for Steve to see. His expression lost it's edge of panic, but still showed extreme worry. Setting the darts aside, Bruce moved his hand over Tony’s slightly parted mouth. His breath was slow and shallow. Moving on to check his pulse, he frowned slightly at how thready it was.

He glanced up at Steve as the Captain leaned Tony’s upper body against his shoulder and started running his fingers through his hair once he was done checking the smaller man over.

“He doesn’t seem to be too bad off,” Bruce commented, trying to calm Steve’s obvious nerves.

“Yeah. But you know his body doesn’t respond well to sedatives.”

“I know. He seems to be doing well so far. The meds team should be here momentarily, there’s nothing to worry about,” just as he finished speaking, a group of EMTs came rushing towards them. He grabbed Steve’s arm and pulled him away from Tony so the medics could work on him. It wasn’t too long before they had him on a gurney and were wheeling him away towards the med bay.

“C’mon,” Bruce prodded gently, “Let’s go round up the others, give the doctors some time to work on Tony.”

“Yeah, ok,” Steve replied in a flat tone after several moments of silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony woke up with a pounding headache. And not one that came from having a good time the night before (and how sad was it that he could tell the difference). Groaning loudly, he forced his eyes to open.

“Tony?”

Rolling his head to the side, he saw Steve seated in a chair next to the bed. Wait, what was he doing in a bed?

“What happened?” he asked groggily.

“You got hit with a couple of tranq darts on accident while a group of SHEILD agents were trying to take down the guy who tried to blow up the engine the other day after he escaped somehow,” explained Steve, all in one breath as he leaned closer towards the bed.

“Well, that explains the killer headache then,” he moaned as he took the pillow out from under his head and covered his face with it. He heard Steve chuckle softly before slipped under the pillow and strong fingers were suddenly messaging his head. A startled groan of pleasure escaped him.

“How long was I out?” he managed to ask after awhile.

“Just for a day. All things considered, it wasn’t as bad as it could have or has been,” answered Steve as he continued to rub Tony’s skull soothingly.

“Yeah, I think Fury changed the types of drug they use after that time Hill purposely shot me in the ass with her tranq gun. That wasn’t fun,” he murmured, breaking off into a loud yawn.

“Why don’t you go back to sleep, and sleep that headache off,” Steve suggested, taking the pillow off Tony’s face and slipping it back under his head, “The doctors won’t let you leave for another twelve hours anyways.”

“Yeah, alright,” he said with another yawn, “Thanks for sticking around and the magic fingers, Steve.”

“No problem Tony. Now sleep, that’s an order.”

And if that just wasn't an order Tony was more than happy to comply to. He reveled in the feeling of Steve still massaging his head and let himself drop off into sleep once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That one time Hill shot Tony in the ass with a tranq dart and everybody found out the hard way that Tony and tranquilizers don't get along.

8 Months Ago

With his usual grandeur, Tony waltzed into the SHIELD conference room where the Avengers were currently being briefed on their next mission.

“The fun has arrived! I know the excitement might be a hard to handle, but no need for anyone to get out of your chairs.”

A hostile silence met his entrance coupled with potent glares from everyone (except Thor, who looked genuinely happy that Tony had finally shown up).

“Mr. Stark,” Agent Hill was, surprisingly, the first person in the room to speak up, “I hope you realize that you’re over an hour late for this briefing.”

He shoved a hand into his pants pocket while scratching at the back of his head with the other and looking down slightly, feeling a little guilty, truth be told. He had actually planned on being on time today for once.

“Yeah, sorry, really. Got tied up in a project in the workshop. Literally,” he said, moving to take a seat at the table.

”And what’s so damn important that you decided to skip out on this meeting?” Fury questioned in his ‘this may be a serious question or it may just be a sarcastic and rhetorical one’ tone of voice. Tony decided, after taking into account all the risk factors of either answering or not answering, to go ahead and answer regardless, because fuck you he’s Tony Stark.

“Honestly, it probably something that I’m just gonna trash or give to R&D to play with,” he said as he took a seat next to Steve and across from Natasha.

“So it wasn’t something that would have blown up if you’d just left it when you needed to leave for this briefing,” It was obvious that Fury was making it a statement and not a question.

“Yeah, no. See here’s the thing, I was literally tied up in it. Don’t ask me how, but Dum-e and U somehow got me tangled up in the wires without me noticing, and when I went to leave I got stuck.”

“Why didn’t you have the bots help or call one of us?” Natasha asked, her (what Tony liked to call it) judging face on.

“Did you miss the part where they were the ones who got me tangled up in the first place? And I would have had one of you guys come down and help me, but JARVIS said that you’d all left early. I ended up having to call Pepper, but she was in the middle of a board meeting, so I had to wait for her to finish with that before she could come and help me out.”

“You know you could have just called one of us to come help, right?” asked Steve, giving him his patented kicked puppy look.

“Yeah, but then I’d’ve had to explain what happed and it all would have been all awkward and you would have had to come all the way back to the tower. Plus, I do still have my dignity and all. I didn't really want to be a damsel in distress, that's Clint's job this week. I think my turn is in two weeks.”

“And calling Pepper to come save you doesn’t make you a damsel in distress? What’d that do for your dignity?” Clint joked, looking far too amused with the situation.

“It's Pepper, so let’s face it, my dignity doesn’t exist when she's around.”

Clint burst out laughing and everyone else, excluding Hill and Fury, smiled to some degree.

“Alright, enough,” commanded Fury, standing from his chair, “This briefing is over. Stark, that does not mean you get to skip on this one, Hill will go over it with you before you leave. Everyone else, dismissed.”

Tony groaned as the others began to get up and get ready to leave. Natasha gave him a cruel little smile, already mocking his pain of having to work with Maria, and Clint gave him a small salute and mouthed ‘good luck’ to him before the both of them left the room. Groaning again, he leaned forward in his seat until his forehead was resting against the table. He let his eyes slide shut, suddenly feeling absolutely exhausted.

He sat and listened as Bruce and Thor discussed something or other towards the far end of the table,  probably waiting on Steve. Next to him, he could hear the man in question getting his phone out and turning it on. And how precious was it that he actually turned his phone off when he went to meetings. Ignoring the annoying, and not to mention standard, text notification coming from the phone as soon as it powered up, he began to doze off.

He contemplated the pros and cons of if he were to just let himself fall asleep here on the table to get out of getting briefed by Hill. Cause that woman was scary, not as scary as Natasha and Pepper but still scary enough. He also had a theory that she hated his very existence. Which he based off the death glares she aimed at him every time they were in a room together.

“Tony,” Steve said suddenly. _Uh-oh_ , Tony thought, _that was the cap voice, wasn’t it_.

“Tony,” Steve said again, and yup, definitely in the cap voice. Turning his head so he could look at the captain, Tony raised his eyebrows in question.

“Tony, when was the last time you slept?”

“Uhhhh… You know, that’s a great question, cause I’m not coming up with anything recently.”

“JARVIS sent me a text stating that you’ve passed your 72 hour time limit for working in the lab, and that was from hours ago!” Steve looked like he was torn between snatching Tony up and carrying him off to bed and just grabbing his shoulders and trying to shake some sense into him.

“Oh,” was all he said.

“Come on, get up. The briefing can wait, you’re going to bed,” Steve pushed to his feet and stood, waiting for him to follow suit.

“Just let me get this stupid briefing thing done and then I’ll go sleep for like two days,” Tony tried to bargain, cause he honestly would rather get the briefing done sooner rather than later.

“It can wait, Tony. Now that you’ve taken a moment to stop, you’re going to crash real soon. Let’s go, on your feet,” a strong hand wrapped around his arm and Steve yanked him to his feet, holding on until Tony found his feet.

Pulling his arm away, he swayed backwards slightly, reaching out for the table to steady himself, “I’m fine, Steve. Just let me-“

There was a sharp prick in his ass which made him jump. Reaching around, he plucked what turned out to be a small dart, “Oh shiiiiiiit.”

“Who am I to argue with Captain America. Nighty night, Stark,” Hill said, drawing his attention to her in time for him to see her holstering her gun.

He opened his mouth to tell her what an idiot she was and the world went black.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve watched as Tony turned to face Hill and abruptly collapsed halfway. He could only stand and stare like a deer in the head lights as Tony’s head cracked sharply against the edge of the conference table on his way to the floor. There was a moment of complete silence in the room before they all jumped into action.

“Tony!” he yelled, immediately taking a step towards him and kneeling next to him. He turned Tony so he was flat on his back. Red gushed from the gash that had opened up along his hairline where his head had met the table. Peeling off his over shirt, Steve wadded it up and pressed it against the wound. Tony didn’t react.

He looked up as Bruce came to crouch next to him.

“Keep up the pressure,” said the good doctor as he moved to check Tony’s vitals and froze, “What the hell is in those darts?!” he yelled at Hill suddenly, hands moving to rip Tony’s button up open and press his ear to his chest.

“Just the standard tranq cocktail, what’s wrong?” she asked as she came closer.

“He’s not breathing, and his heart rate is dangerously low. Call a med team!”

Steve stared down in shock at Tony, slowly noting that Tony’s chest wasn’t rising and falling. A hand grabbed his chin and turned his head to face Bruce.

“I need you to perform rescue breathing for him. I’ll monitor his pulse and start chest compressions if his heart stops,” Bruce looked like he was on the edge of control, a shade of green tinting his eyes. He tried to ask Bruce if he was going to be able to handle this before Bruce cut him off and yelled at him to breathe for Tony.

Tilting Tony’s head back, he pinched his nose shut and tilted his chin up. He had a moment to lament over the fact that this was not how he had wanted to find out how Tony’s lips felt on his for the first time before he was mashing their mouths together and pushing air into his lungs. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Tony’s chest rise slightly before deflating again and remaining still. He breathed into Tony’s mouth again, hoping the genius’ body would get back with the program.

“Just keep breathing, Steve,” Bruce said, “He’s having a reaction to the tranquilizer, he’s not going to start breathing on his own until it wears off or someone gives him something to reverse it.”

Without a word, Steve went back to breathing for Tony. It took the med team five minutes to get to the conference room. Another five minutes saw Tony being wheeled out on a gurney, after they’d injected him with something and placed a bag valve mask over his nose and mouth. They rushed him out of the room, leaving the three remaining Avengers and agent Hill behind.

Slowly and shakily, Steve stood up from where he’d scooted back on the floor to make room for the med team. Glancing around the room he saw Hill standing in shock, staring out the door. Thor was looking anxious, his eyes darting between the door and his comrades, obviously wanting to follow Tony, but not wanting to abandon the rest of his shield brothers. Bruce was still sitting on the floor, only cross legged now. He was breathing deeply and slowly, meditating more than likely.

“I’m going to need a minute,” he told them breathily, “You guys go on ahead, I’ll meet you at medical once I got myself back under control.”

With a nod, Steve headed towards the door and was immediately followed by Thor and Hill. They quickly made their way to the med bay waiting room and took up vigilance in the far corner of the room.  Settled in, they prepared to wait.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Uuuuuuuuuhn,” he groaned loudly. His everything was stiff and that was not ok.

“It lives!”

Forcing one eye open, Tony glared up at Clint’s slowly focusing face. He managed to raise one of his hands and curl his fingers into a one finger salute, wincing as his joints all cracked at the movement.

“Love you too, Stark,” laughed Clint before he backed up a step, “I’ll go run and get the others quick. Do try to be slightly more human by the time we get back, yeah?”

“Hate you,” he coughed, before a glass was being shoved in his hand and Clint smiled sweetly at him before bouncing (yes, bouncing) out the door.

Shaking his head, he slowly drank the water and set it on the bedside table when he’d finished. Fumbling around he found the bed controls and raised it up so he was more upright. He glanced around the room and wasn’t surprised to realize that it was a SHIELD hospital room. Stretching, he groaned and moaned as his aching joints all popped and stiff muscles stretched. Being careful of the IV in the back of his hand, he scrubbed his hands through what was probably one of the most spectacular cases of bed head ever. His fingers brushed up against a row of stitches along his hairline, making him hiss in pain. He swiped his hands down his face slowly and heard several people enter the room.

Peeking over his fingertips, he saw the Avengers all standing around the foot of his bed and giving him hard looks.

“Whaaaaaaat,” he whined, dropping his hands into his lap.

“When were you planning on telling us you have adverse reactions to tranquilizers and sedatives?” Natasha asked, getting straight to the point. And bless her for it, cause his head was starting to buzz from being unconscious for, what he could only assume, quite a while.

“Well, there’s several documented incidences in my medical file, so I’d have assumed you’d’ve gone through that. And you remember that time you stabbed me in the neck with a needle? Ever wonder why I freaked out about it? Yeah. Can I go home yet?”

“You have been unconscious for the last five days, friend Tony, we were all very worried,” Thor stated, a strange tone in his voice.

“Awesome. Doesn’t answer my question. Can I go home yet?” he crossed his arms and pursed his lips (he wasn’t pouting. He’d punch anyone who said otherwise).

“Tony, you had a concussion and were in respiratory arrest for twenty minutes. The doctors are going to want to test for brain damage and other things now that you’re awake,” Bruce told him, crossing his own arms and looking down over his glasses at him.

He was about to retort when Steve finally spoke up, “Let the doctors check for brain damage, at least, and I’ll make sure you get out of here after their done. I’ll even sneak you out if I have to. Deal?”

Tony went slack jawed for a moment. Steve was offering to break the rules by stealing him away from the hospital. Not that that was what surprised him, the man’s first mission had started off with him disobeying orders and going behind enemy lines, but he was offering to do it for Tony. He never thought the man even liked him enough to do something like that. Huh.

After a moment of silence, he agreed.

The team stuck around for a little while, chatting ideally and catching him up to date on what had all happened while he was unconscious (which was pretty much nothing). Soon, he was starting to feel tired again. The Avengers all slowly left, save Steve, who was now sitting in a chair pulled up next to his bedside.

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” he said, assuming that the captain was staying out of some sense of duty or something.

“I know,” came the simple reply, but Steve made no move to leave.

Rubbing at his left temple, Tony just shrugged and closed his eyes, hoping that he could fall asleep before the blooming headache in his head prevented him sleeping. He jumped when he felt another hand join his on his head, his eyes snapping open.

“Here, let me,” said Steve, a hopeful smile on his face. Tony let his hand fall away onto the bed and groaned blissfully as Steve brought his other hand up and began massaging his scalp and temples. It wasn’t long till he drifted off, humming happily at the feeling of fingers running through his hair as he fell asleep.


End file.
